Coker said the promotion still hopes to feature the finals of Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix at the March 3 event but is still waiting on medical clearance for finalist Daniel Cormier.

"I know that (Strikeforce matchmaker) Sean (Shelby) is still working out some of the details on that, so we'll hopefully have something for you shortly," Coker said.

Tate and Rousey, of course, have engaged in a very public war of words centered around Rousey's worthiness as a title challenger. Former 135-pound champion Kaufman has also been outspoken in regards to the relative MMA neophyte earning a shot at gold in just her fifth career fight, especially with the first four taking place at 145 pounds.

Nevertheless, Rousey impressive work to date – which includes scoring four wins in just 138 seconds of total cage time – will see her skip to the front of the line.

Tate looks to defend for the first time the title she earned with a fourth-round submission win of former champ Marloes Coenen this past July. Tate currently boasts a six-fight win streak and is 11-1 in her past 12 fights. The lone loss came in a May 2009 bout with Kaufman.

Meanwhile, Rousey, a former Olympic judoka, has yet to taste defeat in seven total professional and amateur contests. In fact, not one of Rousey's opponents has yet to make it out of the first minute of the fight, and all seven contests have ended via armbar.

Noons rebounded from a two-fight skid with a decision victory over Billy Evangelista this past month at "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal." The win put him one step closer to a coveted title shot against current champ Gilbert Melendez, who outpointed Jorge Masvidal in the event's headliner.

Masvidal spoiled Noons' return to lightweight this past June after his unsuccessful bid for then-welterweight champion Nick Diaz's title eight months prior.

American Kickboxing Academy product Thomson hasn't fought since he lost a decision to Tatsuya Kawajiri at DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010," which snapped a two-fight win streak. He was expected to return this past September at "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov" to face World Victory Road/Sengoku veteran Maximo Blanco, but he was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury.

The setbacks further delayed what many believe to be an inevitable rubber match with Melendez, whom he bested in June 2008 to win the Strikeforce lightweight title and lost to 18 months months later in a hotly contested rematch.

Davis carries a two-fight win streak into the rematch of an April 2007 contest that saw Kaufman earn a third-round TKO win. Kaufman also boasts a two-fight win streak built after suffering her lone career loss to Marloes Coenen in October 2010.

Going to be delayed til who knows when with Cormier's injury. The thread can change to Tate vs Rousey pretty easily though The only problemo is changing the poll, it turns Barnett votes into Miesha Tate votes, I took the count away though.

Quote:

Seven months after he broke his right hand, Strikeforce heavyweight Daniel Cormier (9-0 MMA, 6-0 SF) is still unsure of when he'll be ready to fight Josh Barnett (31-5 MMA, 2-0 SF).

"I would imagine they would wait, and I think they should," Cormier told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I think Strikeforce needs some closure to that division."

Cormier is today scheduled for an MRI, and he expects to get a final word on when and if he can fight. Until then, he can't commit to any timetable for return.

"I'm not sure if I re-hurt myself at some point, but when it is completely healed, we're ready to go," he said.

As finalists in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, Cormier and Barnett were expected to headline an event scheduled for March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. But on Tuesday, officials announced a women's bantamweight title fight between champ Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey as the top-billed fight.

"Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" takes place at Nationwide Arena and airs live on Showtime.

That leaves in the lurch the finals of the eight-man competition, which kicked off this past February in East Rutherford, N.J. Neither Cormier or Barnett is sure of when the fight will take place.

"Zuffa said they would like Josh's next fight to be Cormier," Barnett's manager, Leland Labarre, said. "We are patiently waiting for that to happen."

In recent months, Cormier helped several of his teammates prepare for fights at American Kickboxing Academy. He said he wrestled and did jiu-jitsu but babied his hand.

Whether his current plight is the result of that generosity is unknown. But Cormier isn't taking any chances with his hand.

"It's just you have to be really careful with an injury like that because if I re-injure myself, I'm out another six months," he said. "It's six months since I fought last, and I'm itching to get in the cage, but Josh is too dangerous to go and fight him and not have all my weapons. I go and fight him and I break my hand in the first round, and how am I supposed to fight this guy for four rounds, when I truly believe he's one of the best fighters in the world."

Nevertheless, Cormier laments the amount of time he's already spent on the bench. His current layoff owes to his most recent fight, when he knocked out Antonio Silva this past June to win a trip to the tournament finals. Originally an alternate in the tournament, he fought three times this past year and five in 2010.

"I have every desire to fight as many times as I can," Cormier said. "But if in 2012 I can fight three times, I'll fight three times. It's very frustrating to not be able to do the things I was doing, and I'm not improving at the rate that I think I was before."

Undefeated at 9-0, former Olympian Cormier has been one of Strikeforce's success stories. A win over Barnett in the finals would undoubtedly put him in a good position when the promotion shutters its heavyweight division. But for now, he has to wait some more.

in terms of experience and skill I gotta say Tate, and I hope Tate wins this. Rousey is unproven, and essentially talked her way into a title fight. Tate takes Rousey down, and subs her in my opinion. Rousey will be shown up that she is not on that title-fight level yet.